My 17 year old has ridden dirt bikes a bunch (125-250 four strokes cfr/ktm) he has ridden my r6 down the road a few times but nothing more than a couple miles. He has asked me about doing a track day but I am not sure I want him to start on an r6 and he nervous about riding what he affectionally calls the "beast" (oh to me 17 again). Yes a 250 or an r3 would be best but not in the cards anytime soon and don't want to invest in a bike I may or may not use depending on his level of interest. It seems like STT has a very controlled environment and in tune with the riders so i don't think he wold be in too over his head. I started racing on an RC51 so my frame of reference on starter bikes is skewed....:crackup: What do you guys think? I am going to Tally on July 15 and bringing him along for company but he is on the fence about trying it. He is one of those kids who is always on the fence trying new stuff but once he does he usually loves it.
I suppose you could sign him up to ride the event, then sign up for the Yamaha demo ride (if they have that there that day) of the R3 in a session before he rolls out on the R6.
They've been at each of the three Barber events I have attended. I took a turn on the R3 myself, darn fun ride.
FastwayRacing on here, his name is Mike, advertises bikes he has for sale in the classified sections for sale. He has R3's and Ninja 300's for sale that need very little to put on the track that would be great starter bikes.
Start out on a 250/300cc bike. Learn all the fundamentals and corner speed without all the power to scare and hurt you. I wish I would have started track riding on a small bike but have been sliding everything with 2 wheels around since I was 8 so... I guess I will survive.
My son, now 21, has been riding his SV650 as his street/track bike for a couple of years now. I'm still not sure I'd put him on my R6. I did offer once, and he chose not to, probably because he doesn't want to crash dad's bike. Smart kid.
My son rode a BMW s1000rr at a racing school in Laguna Seca for 2 days when he was 16 and did just fine; his first track day was on an SV-650 when he was just barely 16. It really depends on maturity level. Starting on a 600 would be ok for a level headed kid; you might consider keeping him in Novice for awhile until he's comfortable (and you!).
Last930 is right, it's all about the maturity level. My son moved up to a 2007 R6S from a CBR250 when he turned 16. The throttle controls the speed, not the engine size. My only warning: It may be about to get real expensive. His first track day at Barber on the R6S and got bit by the racing bug. He did track days for a year, moving up to Advanced, then started his novice year of racing with Wera. 2 more race weekends to go before the Grand National and he is 1 point out of first place in C Superstock Novice in Southeast riding his 2015 Triumph Daytona 675R. I know, I'm bragging on my son, sorry.
I'm not saying he can't start on an R6 but here is my experience, for what it's worth. I started riding when I was about 21. I rode a CBR 600 F4i (street only) for a couple of years before I decided to try the track. I went out and bought a used R6 track bike. I had no one guiding me. No one I knew rode bikes. I thought I knew what I was doing. Track day #1: First session, lap 3 or 4, entered turn at the end of the straight too hot (or what I though was too hot at the time), stood it up, rode into the infield, crashed = broken collar bone. Months later. Track day #2: Second session, low sided accelerating out of a pretty high speed left hander (still don't know how) = broken shoulder blade. 15 years later, older, wiser, and with MUCH more to lose, I decided to try track days again. This time I figured I'd start a little slower, spending some time learning technique before I went scorching around the track on a 600 again. I found a used, cheap, Ninja 300 and nervously took it to my 1st track day in 15+ years (3rd ever) which just happened to be at COTA. Within that year I did about 8-9 track days on the 300. I was able to learn so much on that little bike without having to worry so much about getting out of control. I sometimes had to swallow my pride as bigger bikes smoked me on the straights only to hold me up in the corners but it was a blast, and best of all, NO CRASHES. I still have the 300 but now I usually take my ZX6R to track days. I feel like the learning curve on the 600 was so much smaller, I'm so much faster, and more importantly, safer because of the time I spent learning on the 300. Again, I'm not saying that everyone should ride a small bike before riding a 600 or 1000 at the track, but I would recommend it to anyone based off of my small level of experience. BTW, not sure where you are, but you can rent a ninja 300 and all the required gear at NOLA. Your son can test it out on a rented bike rather than having to go buy one.
Agreed on the bigger bikes, started on an rc51. Lots of power to make up for my lack of skill and have developed a couple really bad habits. Much harder to learn a track at a faster pace too. learned lines way better on my ex500. I just wanted him to get a taste of it. We will be looking for a 250 or 300 this off season...once he gets a freaking job!
I would not just throw a kid out on the track on ANY bike - you need a process. Before starting my son at age 16 I first sent him to the Motorcycle Safety Course taught by Northern Illinois University. Then he got his motorcycle license, followed by a few months getting used to riding locally on the street. Next up was his first track day with STT, followed by the Learning Curves class. Once he passed that I dragged him around to a summer of STT days, where he - with a good amount of coaching from the STT staff - worked himself through Novice, Intermediate and into Expert levels on an SV650. Took him out to the California Superbike School for a 2 day camp this spring too. He's now a fast, confident track rider and amateur racer.
I would think starting him in Novice would be plenty controlled and they go at just the right pace for all levels... If it's ran like any of the Michigan STT events I would have no reservation with putting him in one of those groups to get a feel for it (even on a 600)... My 2 cents...